


Run Me Out

by IWhiteCrossI



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: A LOT of Angst, And needless to say a lot happens, Angst, Because this is a criminal investigation fic yknow, Coming Out, Criminal Investigation, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Girl Squad - Freeform, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Vilde Hellerud Lien, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mystery, Recreational Drug Use, Romance, Suspense, This is now a 5-part fic, i don't know how to tag, i'll add more later, just a warning, violent themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-10-13 17:46:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10518732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWhiteCrossI/pseuds/IWhiteCrossI
Summary: The SKAM squad is  recently out of university and all of them are ready to tackle new challenges in their personal and professional lives. Some of them are investigating murders, some are establishing their careers as journalists but whatever the case: things are looking up. That is, until suspicious letters start arriving in the workplace. What the gang first percieves as a silly joke, soon turns into a bloodcurdling thriller, a madness from which there is no escape.Criminal investigation AU. Will also include a lot of romance.





	1. Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> This is a 5-part series. Each part will focus on one character, one member of the girl squad. This is just a short prologue to set the theme and does not mention any of the characters by name. I know it's very short but I felt it was necessary to create a sort of foreword to this fic. I'll post Chapter 1 later tonight. I hope you like the fic.  
> PS: Comments warm my stone cold heart.

**Prelude**

 

_Wednesday 20.58_

_Somewhere in Oslo_

 

The phone rings once, twice. They’re sat at the table together, jaws set square, their fingers tapping against the wooden table. The radio is blaring in the background, loud enough to drown out any possible noise and yet, there doesn’t seem to be any particular need for the music. The lack of voices, of actual conversation, is deafening. 

They were warned against leaving the garage before the signal. 

“It’s on your own head,” the voice of their leader echoed in the air when he gave them the instructions for today. Best to keep quiet. 

The phone rings for the third time. It’s excruciating, waiting for answers. Malicious smiles shadow over some of their faces but although cruel, the smirks are hesitant all the same. It isn’t enough, knowing that they have _almost_ succeeded. Not after several months were spent carefully planning all of this, preparing everything down to the tiniest detail. Every single person in the bunker needs confirmation of their triumph. The group might be quiet now but they are only moments away from celebration. Or explosive rage. The anticipation is thick in the air, it’s etched into every glare, every tap of knuckles against the tabletop. Now if only the phone would stop ringing. 

An unpleasant odour hovers through the room, more pronounced than in the morning, something close to dried blood mixed with rot and mould. The smell is a  quiet reminder: there is probably a dead rat stuck between the walls somewhere. Not one person holds their breath, almost as if that would be a sign of weakness. It’s more important to wait. They just need to know it’s _finished_ , so they can get the hell out of here. 

The phone stops ringing after the fifth time. That is the signal. Sort of. 

“This is promising, right?” one of them, the bulky man in the farthest corner, finally breaks the silence. “Must mean they will have at least left the train station by now?” 

Almost everybody murmurs in agreement. Some of them seem a little tense still, but even so the aura in the room seems to grow a bit lighter with every passing second, perversely happier. 

“No need to speculate, we’ll know in a few minutes,” the other interjects. 

The speaker is right. Soon enough, they can hear the telling roar of a car engine coming from the outside, the sound getting steadily louder until it stops and disappears completely. 

A loud silence engulfs them once more. 

“That must be them now,” a third voice chimes in. “But why didn’t they…” she gestures towards the phone on the table. 

The garage door bursts open before the blonde woman has time to finish her sentence but the meaning is clear. Something went wrong out there. There was supposed to be one more unanswered phone call. 

The hunch that the plan didn’t have the desirable outcome they’d all hoped for, is confirmed when two people enter the room, rather murderous looks on their faces. For a moment, no one utters a single word. 

Finally, one of the men decides to pipe up. 

“What went wrong?” 

“For fuck’s sake, what didn’t?” one of the newcomers hisses.  

“So…she’s still alive?” 

The other newcomer, the leader, raises his gaze to meet the man’s. His eyes are tired but there is something cruel and mirthful in them, too, as he faces all of them. 

“Yeah, the bitch got away from us,” he sighs, lips curling into an unpleasant smile that seems to be saying: not for long, though, not for long. 

“So, that’s it?” a woman murmurs, her voice shaking. “It was a complete waste of time?” 

“Well, I wouldn’t put it down as a complete waste of time,” the man says,his mouth morphing into a smile suddenly.  “I reckon the boy’s _quite_ dead by now.”  

All of them look positively thunderstruck as the man continues: 

“And anyway, what does it matter? We’ve still yet to properly demolish those police department fuckers and their little gang.” 

The woman opens her mouth to say something but their leader stops him with a wave of his hand. 

“Enough. We need to discuss our plans for next Monday. It’s Sana’s birthday, after all.” 

 

 


	2. We're Happy Now, We're Having Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post the first chapter tonight because the prologue was ridiculously short. Anyway, here it is :) The first part is about Vilde. The story will be in 5 parts, each part about a different member of the girl squad.

 

_Part I  - Inception_

_Vilde_

* * *

**19 months earlier**

 

 

 

Friday 11.25 

Bryn, Oslo 

 

“It’s jammed again, ugh, I can’t believe this!” 

Vilde was clutching a huge stack of ruined paperwork in her hands and glaring at the copy machine, eyes narrowed, as though daring it to start working again. 

Jonas threw a vague glance her way whereas Sana didn’t even bother to look up from her computer. She didn’t expect dramatic declarations of support anyway. After two years of working as a consultant in the police department, her battles with different kinds of office equipment had become something of a morning routine in the precinct.  

Vilde entered her access code once more and the copy machine lurched back to life again. It started heaving slowly and finally, the first clean sheet of paper landed in Vilde’s open arms. 

“Yes, yes, you can do it,” the woman whispered encouragingly, patting the top of the photocopier, as the second A4 emerged from the machine unharmed but a moment later a cry of despair rippled through the room. The copier had made a loud rattling noise and stopped working. All Vilde’s three attempts to revive the old bat were unsuccessful.

Vilde closed her eyes, oblivious to people throwing both dirty and pitiful looks her way, and willed herself not to scream as she launched into another rant. 

“Can you…Does anything ever _work_ in this precinct? I used to think that after I brought my _own_ printer here, it would bring something new to the table and we’d finally be able to organise the cases by colour codes but here it is and we’re still…” 

“I thought Lea was supposed to help you with paperwork,” Sana mused, finally averting her eyes from the computer to look at Vilde. 

“Yes!” Vilde squeaked and gathered the remnants of her ruined paperwork together.  “Thanks for reminding me! Where is she, has anyone…?”

She was interrupted by the loud clang of elevator doors. Seconds later, Eva and Noora stepped in the office, a scruffy-looking man wearing handcuffs crouched between the two of them. 

“Guess, who finally caught the IKEA spy!” Noora announced, pointing at the criminal next to her. 

“We did!” Eva said quickly, positively beaming, as her and Noora exchanged not-so-subtle looks of pride. 

Jonas glanced at the pair of them from the corner of his eye and lazily turned over his chair so he could face his co-workers. 

“IKEA spy?” he drawled, twirling a pen between his fingertips. “You guys do realise he’s just a regular pervert, who used to lurk around in department stores watching people buy bedroom equipment, right?” 

“Yes, hence why we call him _the spy_ ,” Noora replied, shaking her head. “You’re just jealous.”

Eva clamped a palm over her mouth to stifle her laughter. 

“Well done, guys,” Vilde said and gave them both a quick hug. “Do you want me to help you file your paperwork later?” 

“Yes, congratulations on your big arrest. Really brings down the crime rate around here,” Jonas muttered but none of the girls seemed to have heard his remark. “Oh, Vilde, there is no need for you to do our paperwork,” Noora chuckled and smiled at her friend. “I think Lea can handle it.” 

“Yes, but nobody knows where she is,” Vilde said, gripping her ruined stack of papers so tightly that her knuckles turned almost white. “I haven’t seen her since Wednesday, come to think of it.”

“That’s because she’s holidaying in the Maldives with her boyfriend.” 

Sana had got up from her desk and marched towards the girls, shoving her small tablet in front of their noses. The bright screen was obscured by Sana’s Instagram feed and there; right next to a photo of Isak and Even, Sana’s friends from secondary school, making funny faces at the camera; there was a picture of a girl with purple hair standing on a beach somewhere, her hands wrapped around an unknown boy. The caption read: _discovering the wilderness with @alexander_pettersen._

They all stared at it for a moment until Vilde exclaimed: 

“So, that’s where she’s ran off to! But…she hasn’t let anyone know, has she…she…she’s supposed to be at work!” 

Noora nodded. 

“You’re right, Vilde. I’ll go ask Eskild, maybe he forgot to tell us.” She didn’t seem convinced, however. 

“Yeah,” Eva murmured, stepping back and pointing at the IKEA spy still standing a few steps behind them. “I should get going, too, need to take this one to the custody suite.” 

She turned to leave as well. Vilde opened her mouth to tell Sana exactly how shitty her day had been so far but the former was already back at her desk, typing something in her computer rather furiously. 

So, Vilde dragged herself back to her own tiny cubicle, sat down and buried her face in her hands. 

She could’ve easily stayed there forever, forehead against the smooth cold surface of her table, the worries of the day forgotten and only six hours left until the end of her shift. However, not even five minutes had passed, when Vilde remembered the lecture detailing the new security measures she had agreed to deliver to the immigration office staff next Wednesday.

Her eyes snapped open. Vilde raised her head from the table, determined to shake away her tiredness. She was going to get through this week, one hour at a time, if necessary.

Vilde bit her lip and looked around the room. Her blue eyes fell on Linn, who had just crawled out of her office and was currently fumbling with the coffee machine next to the kitchen sink. 

Vilde smothered a yawn and sat up a little straighter. Yes, now there was an idea. Coffee. 

 

 

***

 

 

By lunch break, Vilde had almost finished putting together her lecture. The task had not proved to be very difficult, it mainly involved copying large paragraphs of text from the Kripos website and then rewording them, but Vilde was still a little proud of herself – it had taken her less than two hours to get through her speech and finish colour coding her summer schedule.

With nothing left to do, yet being unable to sit still due to the three mugs of coffee now swirling around in her system, Vilde found the only other outlet she could think of; the woman started walking around the workplace, asking everyone if they had any _new_ paperwork she could help them with. 

After Vilde had rushed by her desk for the third time in fifteen minutes, Sana was almost begging for an excuse to snap at her, however Noora who had just stepped out from Eskild’s study, quickly took note of Sana’s furrowed brows, and reacted faster. 

“Vilde, are you sure you’re okay?” she inquired softly, taking a hold of her arm, and lead her friend to the nearest corner. 

They stood there for a minute, Vilde simply staring at Noora, stunned silent, whereas Noora was looking at her tentatively as if afraid to ask what was truly bothering her. 

“Is this about Magnus?” she whispered finally and Vilde’s expressionless face turned into a frown almost immediately. 

“I broke up with Magnus more than three months ago.” 

“But you guys were together for ages, there’s no reason to be ashamed of…” 

But before Noora could finish her sentence, Eskild’s voice echoed across the office: 

“Listen up, you hoebags! I know the weekend’s upon us in,” he glanced at his  watch and did a little pirouette on the spot, “THREE HOURS, people, but we’ve got a new case lead. Briefing room in 15 minutes, everyone!” 

Their boss had emerged from his office, holding a large red megaphone in one hand and a boombox in the other. Noora was shaking her head vigorously. Vilde slipped away quietly. 

“And now some classics!” Eskild announced, placing the boombox down on the nearest table and pressing play. The Village People- YMCA started blaring from the speakers and Eskild marched back to his office as all the detectives groaned collectively. 

“ _Every_ Friday,” Noora snapped, striding over to the boombox and switching it off unceremoniously. 

Jonas let out a loud snort. 

“What is it now?” the blonde turned around, running an exasperated hand through her hair. 

“Nothing, nothing,” Jonas laughed, getting up from his desk and swaggering past her towards the briefing room. He was joined by the amused-looking faces of Eva and Sana. 

Noora’s eyes narrowed into slits but she thought it better not to say anything back. Instead, the woman turned on her heel, determined to resume her previous conversation with Vilde except her friend was nowhere to be seen. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

Vilde was already in the briefing room when Noora walked in. She had purposefully seated herself between Linn and Jonas, so Noora had no chance of starting up another conversation with her. 

Vilde needn’t have been so worried. Once Eskild entered the room, everyone’s attention focused solely on him. 

The lead turned out to be an anonymous hint about an internationally well-known terrorist currently thought to be residing in Trondheim. It was the same one who had wreaked havoc in train stations all over Germany just last month. Why the man had chosen Norway as his best bet for a hiding spot, Vilde could not comprehend, so she tuned off the conversation until it became a quiet hum in the background and let her mind drift far away. 

_It was last Friday again and she was back at that random techno club Mahdi had recommended them to visit, back on the dance floor, staring at a pretty blonde girl from the corner of her eye. My god, was she pretty. An ecstatic smile upon her lips and her long blonde hair waving all around her, recklessly yet somehow perfectly in sync with every movement of her body, she looked like someone Botticelli would have enjoyed painting. Like a Greek goddess. Vilde shook her head. Was she crazy? Should she go up there and try talking to her? No, she could never…_

_“What are you looking at, Vilde?” Eva yelled over the music, grinning at her. Vilde didn’t quite hear what she said, she was too mesmerised by that hair, the white dress…_

“Vilde?!” 

Eskild’s cheery voice brought the blonde back to reality.

They were all looking at her now, concern evident in their faces. Vilde shook her head to shake off the unwanted daydream. 

“W-what’s the matter?” she asked, trying to sound serene, however her voice gave out just a little. 

“You were dozing off,” Noora said. “And Eskild just wanted to know if…” 

“…If you could manage to find a new assistant by next Tuesday, we need her here ASAP, it is of _vital_ importance now.” 

Vilde frowned. Tuesday was just four days away. There was just no way…and with her speech coming up. 

“I’m supposed to pop down to the justice department on Tuesday, they need my help with the Wasilewski case. You know, the Polish family, mum, dad and four children, economic refugees, landlord kicked them out in mid-winter, told them their December’s electric bill had not arrived on time…clearly one of those right-wing extremists…well, Mahdi said the man has got himself a great lawyer, they’re looking for ways to navigate  the situation so the family’s rights are…” 

“Yes, Vilde, we’ve heard,” Sana interrupted her. “Honestly, it was all Aftenposten wrote about for days on end.” 

“And Dagbladet still hasn’t left that poor family alone,” Eva murmured in agreement. “The Wasilewskis were on the front page again today, apparently the father gave an exclusive interview to them. Pros and cons of living in Oslo in 2017 it was called or something like that.” 

“That won’t do the case much good, will it?” Jonas shrugged, shaking his head in disbelief. “Those Dagbladet blokes are full of shit.”

Noora, who hated the Dagbladet newspaper more than anything, immediately came to its defence. 

“The more attention they draw to themselves right now the better,” she argued. “Maybe then this xenophobic arse who threw them out will understand that…” 

But they didn’t hear the end of it, because Eskild had snatched his megaphone up from the table and was barking out orders again, voice more urgent than before. 

“Hey, I know this immigration case is _the shit_ right now but could you _please_ resume further discussion in two and a half hours when your shift ends?” he bellowed. 

Each and every one of them turned their gaze back on him again. Vilde wished she had drunk more coffee during lunchtime as _even_ Linn’s dreamy gaze had jerked up to assess the situation for a moment before her eyelids fluttered closed again. 

“Eskild’s right,” Jonas said after a while. “We’ve got international human trafficking gangs to investigate.” 

Vilde frowned again, mentally shaking herself. So that’s what they’d been discussing so far? 

Eskild had pulled out a large map that had various photographs plastered on it. One by one, they all pitched their ideas. Their current focus was the Berber gang from Albania, who apparently had been smuggling the undocumented children of immigrants to various European countries since last summer. It was one of the most despicable cases they’d ever worked on but they’d finally struck a cord last week. Now, after months of fierce investigation, one of the Berber leaders was currently under Norwegian custody. The man had attempted to infiltrate the country illegally but the coast guard had caught him at the last minute. This meant the case was finally nearing its end and, if the squad was lucky, it would all be finished by the end of the month. Yet the most complicated step was still ahead, getting the man to talk. 

“So, I gather Noora and Jonas will head out to Trondheim next week?” Eskild asked, addressing the two of them. 

A line of protests ensued as Noora and Jonas weren’t exactly enthusiastic about going on another stake-out together. The last one they had went on together had ended with two out of three targets getting away, because they couldn’t agree on their plan of approaching the criminals. Eventually, after _a lot_ of bickering and complaints from each person at the table, it was decided that Eva and Sana would go instead, leaving the rest of the gang in the home office. Vilde and her assistant would monitor the rest of the information that came into the department daily, while everyone else focused solely on the Trondheim case. 

Vilde tried to pay attention to what Eskild was saying with all her might, and even managed to get a few remarks in, but all in all, she was more than ready to run straight home, when they were finally dismissed more than three hours later. 

She realised that she hadn’t behaved how she normally would’ve. Vilde vaguely understood that she needed to start acting like her normal self again or alternatively, face more questions, each and every one of them about twice as unpleasant as Noora’s. The blonde had kept eyeing her throughout the whole meeting, looking more and more eager to get some one-on-one time later with each concerned glance. Maybe Vilde should’ve pressed Eskild for more details. Is that what she normally did? She didn’t know. Whatever the case, when they made their way out of Eskild’s study, Vilde was more than glad that it was Eva instead of Noora who took up the conversation. 

“I can’t _wait_ until your new assistant gets in,” Eva sighed, grabbing her jacket. “Then at least we will have some peace and quiet.” 

Sana pursed her lips. 

“You sure about that?” 

Noora and Eva both laughed. Vilde managed a small smile. 

“If she is half as chatty as Lea, sure,” Noora said, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Hey!” Vilde said, freezing on the stop. “We forgot to check today’s post!” 

Eva thew her a quizzical look. 

“Doesn’t Lea usually…?” she began before her eyes widened with realisation. “Oh!” 

“We didn’t get anything yesterday either!” Vilde gasped, burying her face in her hands. 

“I’ll collect it, wait here,” said Sana and left. 

“How didn’t we notice?!” Vilde exclaimed. “This is horrible, we’re not a functioning department, that’s what I’ve been telling you!” 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Noora said. “It’s just two days of forgotten mail, that’s all.” 

“Yes, nothing important probably came through anyway,” Eva added, although she was starting to look slightly worried, too. 

Vilde didn’t seem convinced, but she refrained from saying anthing else. Instead, she started to tap her foot  against the linoleum. None of the girls spoke until Sana called out to them from the doorway. 

“Vilde! There’s a package for you!” 

“Well, bring it here then!” Noora shouted back. 

“Alright!” 

Sana approached them, holding a large cardboard box in her hands. It was indeed quite enormous, half of her face was obscured by it and she hadn’t taken any   of the rest of the post with her. 

Sana dropped it to the nearest table unceremoniously. 

“This thing’s heavy,” she heaved, giving her left arm a little shake. “Who sent it?” 

“Oh, that’ll be the stuff I left in Magnus’ place,” Vilde said, biting her lip. “He had a meeting here today with the other pathology chaps and mentioned something about dropping off my books yesterday.” 

“You left _books_ at your boyfriend’s place?” Jonas said, approaching them. He had been about to leave, but the image of Sana strutting through the department, an enormous parcel in her hands, had made him curious. “Cute.” 

Vilde began to open the cardboard box, ripping the tape off in one shift motion. So this was it, she mused, fiddling with the lid. The last of her stuff. It was officially over. Oddly, Vilde didn’t feel very sad about it. It was more of an absence of a feeling that concerned her. 

She shook that thought off and opened the box. 

At first, Vilde couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Surely, Magnus wouldn’t send her old newspaper clippings as a joke? Because that’s what the package contained apparently: a huge stack of old newspapers, some of them torn but others still intact, folded neatly at the bottom of the box. Vilde shuffled through them, letting out incoherent words of disbelief until she noticed something odd, something  _r e d_ and drew both of her hands back with a gasp, pushing the box away from herself in terror. 

“Vilde, what is it? Is everything okay?” Noora asked, stepping slightly closer. 

Vilde let out another cry of horror. 

“There…there’s…blood in it.” 

They all approached the box now, eyes wary. Sana was the first to react. She took a few more steps towards the parcel and bowed down, glancing inside it quickly, her eyes narrowed. 

“I don’t see any blood,” she declared after a moment. “It’s just old newspapers.” 

“At…at…the bottom,” Vilde breathed, still in shock. 

“No, there’s something else,” Jonas said. He was standing on the other side of Sana now, eyes fixated on the right corner of the box. 

There, right in between the old, blood-stained copies of Dagbladet and Her og Nå, lay a starkly white A4 sheet with the large words “WE’RE WATCHING” printed on it in bold black letters. 

Vilde had started to quietly sob on the background. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had a bit of (almost) everyone in it but from here on out, things will get more Vilde-centric for a while. There will be other characters present, of course, but the first part is told from Vilde's point of view. It focuses on her coming out and relationship problems. And this is also the part where all the action starts although I would not hope for any answers yet. I envision the first part alone to be about 20-30 chapters, so there's a long road ahead.  
> This chapter kind of set the pace for everything tho. There will be lighter moments in this fic but also, some incredible angst because I can't live without it. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all liked the first chapter and comments warm my stone cold heart!


	3. All mixed up in the wash, hot water bleeding our colours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I finally updated! I'll really try to set a better pace for this story in the future.  
> Anyway, I have decided I will not use creator's warnings in any chapter in this story because I feel that would be foreshadowing in most cases. I will warn everyone though that this fic deals with a lot of serious topics that might trigger some things. Be kind to yourselves and don't read anything that you're not comfortable reading. 
> 
> PS: You can ask me about particular chapters on Tumblr tho, sheishookedtothesilverscreen is what I go by on that site.

Saturday 09.14 

Nordstrand, Oslo 

 

 

**19 months earlier**

 

Vilde had been cleaning all morning. The cold slices of toasted bread lay uneaten on the kitchen table and the radio was blaring sad songs she didn’t remember ever hearing. … _got to…get away from the pain you drive into the heart of me. The love we share, seems to go nowhere…_ Oh, that’s Tainted Love, Vilde realised and turned the volume up. Despite the loud buzz of music echoing through her kitchen, the blonde still couldn’t shake the feeling that the lyrics fell kind of…flat. Vilde had been up since five and still hadn’t exhausted herself enough to shut her goddamn brain out. 

She thought about Magnus while wiping down the kitchen counter. It was weird, really. They had broken up in mid-winter, during a period which was also the busiest time of the year at the Kripos office by tradition. It had been so easy _, too easy,_ to forget about her sentiments towards the break-up, in fact, Vilde was almost certain she could count all the times she’d actually caught herself missing Magnus on her right hand. The most recent train of sad thoughts had occurred two days ago, when Magnus had messaged her out of the blue, telling Vilde that he’d drop off the last of her stuff any day now. The message had stung a bit, mostly because Vilde was suddenly forced to remember how she always left a book or two at his place whenever she visited and all the hazy Saturday nights after they had begun living together. The nights when Magnus would flip through her poetry collection, always genuinely wondering what a particular book was it doing on his shelf and how she was able to digest any of it. 

But that was just it. She missed their quiet nights of watching Breaking Bad together. She missed all the times he’d help her case prep in the dawn of the morning. More than anything, she missed the quiet conversations and midnight pizza runs. Vilde missed all aspects of their friendship but nothing more, not…not the relationship part. 

Why wasn’t she more sad? Why did she feel such tremendous relief every time  she thought she’d never again have to fake another orgasm or pretend to enjoy it when he went down on her. And why did that feeling of relief fill her with so much dread?  

It wasn’t like Vilde was completely oblivious, was it? She’d always been aware of her attraction towards girls. She’d just really thought she genuinely liked Magnus as well. Even loved him. 

_Of course, the real reason you were with him was because it was so easy to persuade yourself that those lingering feelings you always had for girls were just admiration and appreciation, nothing more,_ her chaotic conscience whispered. 

Vilde attacked the marble tiles of her bedroom floor with her sponge, both of her hands trembling in frustration. They had been together for three years and when Magnus had asked her why she wanted to break up so suddenly, Vilde had had no answer to give him. 

“Do you no longer love me?” Magnus had said, his voice heartbroken. Vilde had held her tongue and averted her gaze. Her shoe laces had looked very interesting all of a sudden. _After all, she couldn’t give him an honest answer, could she? How on Earth could she explain to him, a_ nice _guy,  that you could never fall out of love with someone you’d never fallen in love with?_

This was precisely why Vilde had freaked out, really freaked out,  when Noora started questioning her about Magnus yesterday. And just as she was able to somewhat shake the unpleasant feeling that eventually she’d have to come clean to her friends, that stupid box had arrived. 

Vilde stared at the small blueberry jam stain on her otherwise perfect white linen couch and tried to will it to disappear, when the events of yesterday afternoon, came back to her in a rush. 

 

 

***

 

 

“Is this for real?” Eva Mohn exclaimed as she stared at the “WE’RE WATCHING” sign in the box.  

Vilde let out another sob, squeezing her eyes shut and praying for this horrible day to end. She couldn’t see that Sana was already making phone calls to different janitors and post offices and Noora had hoisted up the cardboard box and made her way to the laboratory on the first floor. 

When the box was taken away, Eva shook herself out of her momentary angry daze, and proceeded to make herself and Vilde some strong coffee to comfort the shaken up girl in some way. 

“I just never thought someone would send me so-something like this,” Vilde muttered over and over again. Eva patted her hair and offered the girl a handkerchief to wipe away her ruined mascara. 

“Vilde, it’s going to be okay, it’s probably nothing. We get supposed threats like this all the time.” 

“We really do,” Jonas said in the middle of dialling another number. He too was making phone calls, trying to get a hold of Magnus, who worked at the pathology unit downtown, just in case his bro had anything to do with the bizarre cardboard box. 

“But it was addressed to me!” Vilde let out a terrified shriek. Sana and Eva exchanged worried glances over the blonde’s shoulder. She was usually much more put together. 

Nobody had remembered to alert Eskild or Linn in this mess. 

A couple of minutes passed, whilst Vilde tried to regain her composure and the rest of them continued investigating the matter, when Jonas shouted: 

“Hey, Magnus just texted me back!” 

Vilde couldn’t help but wince, even though she knew instinctively that Magnus had nothing to do with the box. It was just…the box had had her name on it. 

“He says he doesn’t even use cardboard boxes,” Jonas said, letting out a low chuckle. “I mean, he probably doesn’t even know what they are, poor lad.” 

“I got a word back from one of the janitors as well,” Sana interrupted him. “Said no one had delivered it personally, it was just alongside all the other mail, when he got to work. He thought it looked harmless, so he sent it up to our floor.” 

“It _was_ harmless,” Jonas said, remaining unimpressed. “Think about it, Sana, we get hate mail like every other week, someone just decided to go a little further this time. I mean,” he threw up an exasperated hand, “do you really think there’s anything worth investigating here?” 

“But how did they know my name?” Vilde said, suppressing a sudden urge to hiccough. 

“Your name’s the only one available on the Kripos website, is it not?” Noora said, having returned from the laboratory. 

“Is it?” 

“ _Yes,_ Vilde,” Sana bemused, looking at the blonde in disbelief. “Given that you’re a consultant and not an actual field agent, _you know_?” 

Vilde nodded slowly and raised her eyes to meet Noora’s. 

“Any news from the lab?” 

“Yeah,” Noora said, her tired expression brightening up a bit. “I’ve got good news, actually. The forensics said it’ll take until Monday morning to get the official results, but they did their usual serum test and at least we know it's not human blood now.” 

There was a collective exhale in the office. They’d just been saved countless hours of paperwork and a possible threat to their community. Or so they thought at the time. 

“Okay, so all’s good, just some lunatic fucking around as usual,” Jonas summarised the events of the day, while grabbing his jacket. 

“You don’t know that,” Noora replied heatedly, but the boy was already half out of the office door and missed the words aimed at his retreating back. Sana and Eva were also both packing up their things and Eva patted Vilde’s hair one last time. 

“It’s okay, Vilde,” she said soothingly. “Don’t let any creeps get to you.” 

Sana nodded as well, applied a fresh coat of dark lipstick and sent Vilde a look that could be regarded as almost pitiful. 

“Take care of yourself, okay?” the dark lipped girl mouthed, almost as if she couldn’t stop herself from showing the usually so bright blonde some affection. Then her and Eva were out the door as well and Vilde was once again alone with Noora in the empty office. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Noora began but Vilde suppressed an urge to scream or cry, she didn’t really know, which, nodded swiftly and walked past her friend to the coat hangers, grabbing her jacket and her raspberry-coloured scarf. Only when she was finally out in the surprisingly cold spring rain, did Vilde realise that she hadn't even said good-bye properly. 

 

 

***

 

 

Vilde shuddered as she was brought back to reality by the ringing telephone. The girl leapt to her home phone and answered, strangely wired before picking up the handset, even though she knew that not many people had this number. 

“Vildeeee!” a low voice boomed from the other end of the line. “Feel like you could accommodate an old friend from college for the next 24 hours or so? I am in great peril.” 

“Chris?” Vilde shrieked, almost dropping the handset to the floor. 

She could hear mischievous laughter in her right ear now, and found herself smiling despite the initial shock. 

“Fucking hell, Chris,” Vilde exclaimed, trying to maintain a serious tone and failing. “You can’t just trick people like that…I…” she stifled a laughter, “I thought you were some creep from college…or…my next door neighbour!” 

Vilde didn’t know what it was about Chris but her friend always made the days a little bit brighter whenever she called, especially in times like these. Her personality  and joyful demeanour were absolutely infectious. 

“Sorry. I just wanted to check in on how you were doing,” Chris said, her tone growing a bit more serious. “Sana told me what happened yesterday.” 

Vilde froze. So, Chris knew about the package. Not that it was a huge surprise, Sana and her were very close but still… Her good mood had vanished. 

  “Anyway, I want to hear your version too, she wasn’t very specific,” Chris continued, while Vilde gripped the receiver, her eyes filled with suppressed terror. Her friend paused. “But listen, before we get into that, Mutta has let the boys invade our home for the weekend so I was wondering if I could crash at your place tonight? I’ll bring cookies! Hell, I’ll even watch “Bridesmaids” with you, if you want. Anything for you, girl.” 

Vilde tried to gather herself and took on a cheery voice.

“What do you mean, if? “Bridesmaids” is a fucking classic.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, we have a strict policy of only indulging in Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad reruns in our household.” 

“See, this is why I told you to not get married at 23!”

“But I love Breaking Bad!” 

“Hahhhaha, more like Mutta loves it and you pretend to enjoy it, so you can also pick a film to watch every now and then,” Vilde giggled, the laughter only a bit forced. 

“Hey, giiirl, what’s up with these roasts today, so can I stay over tonight or what?” 

“Of course you can,” Vilde laughed. “Just text me when you’ll be here.” 

“Will do.” 

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line and Vilde had a feeling that Chris wanted to resume talking about the dreadful events of yesterday now. All the blonde could think of was, please, not that…she couldn’t. She had to do something. _Now_. 

“Liste…” 

“Look, I’’ve got to go now, actually,” Vilde said hastily, before Chris could finish her sentence. “I’m cleaning and everything, my home is such a mess! See you in a bit.” 

And without waiting for Chris’ reply, she hung up the phone. 

 

 

***

 

 

Vilde spent the next three hours doing laundry. It was hot outside today and the sun was shining straight into her laundry room, the gleaming lights piercing through her skin, her skull, and coating her skin with sweat. As she folded all of her work pants into a neat pile, Vilde felt breathless, the harsh rays dancing on the top of her pale blonde hair made the girl feel dizzy, she needed a glass of water, needed to get out of this confined space but…no. 

Vilde couldn’t move because moving would mean she would have to think and she didn’t want to think, she didn’t want to think, she didn’t want to _think_. Not on her day off, anyway. Not when she’d have to lay out all her problems to Chris in a few hours, anyway. 

The girl was one of Vilde’s best friends, but somehow, Vilde found herself really dreading her friend’s visit. They hadn’t seen each other face to face in a month and back then, Vilde had been relatively good at keeping it all together. Now though…

She didn’t need one more person to worry about her. Especially someone, who was happy and content and just didn’t need the mess that was Vilde in her life. Someone like Chris. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

Chris arrived in the early afternoon, bringing a huge lemon chiffon pie with her, Vilde’s favourite. The “Bridesmaids” was on Netflix, so Vilde put the film on and busied herself with tea. She made a big show of adding just the right amount of tea leaves and spent another ten minutes rummaging her cupboards for tea infusers even though Vilde was very aware that she always kept them in her bottom drawer near the sink. 

Eventually, Chris started to grow suspicious and got up from the couch. Th blonde tried to smooth her anxious features into a blank expression but as she offered Chris her cup, Vilde could tell right away that she was fooling no one. 

“Hey,” Chris took a large sip of Earl Grey and sat down next to the kitchen counter, her gaze not leaving Vilde’s. “My man, are you okay?” 

“Yes,” Vilde echoed, clenching her left hand to a fist so it would stop trembling. 

“Are you sure?” Chris enquired softly. “So, that creepy package someone sent to the precinct yesterday, it didn’t freak you out?” 

“Why would it?” Vilde said, attempting to look breezy. “Didn’t Sana tell you, we get all kinds of crazy stuff sent to the office, hate mail and weird enquiries and entire books of conspiracy theories and…”  She fell silent abruptly and mentally scolded herself. _Stupid blabbermouth. Can you never fucking shut up? Great, Vilde. Chris must think you are even more shaken up than you’re already letting on._

Even though, that last rumble of thoughts was probably true, the other girl didn’t press her for answers. She just held up a slice of lemon pie for her friend, they went back to the sofa and resumed watching Bridesmaids. 

Vilde soon found she couldn’t really focus on the film, however. The events of yesterday were still haunting her and she could see Chris watching her from the corner of her eye, when she thought Vilde wasn’t looking. Her hands started trembling again. And when Chris reached for the remote to turn up the volume, she finally broke: 

“The package! It had my name on it, though!” 

Vilde frowned. That had come out more hysterical than she’d wanted. Chris slowly turned the volume down again and discarded the remote control before looking at her. 

“Sorry?” 

“It had my name on it!” Vilde blurted out. “My name! I know that everyone in the precinct thinks it’s just some joke or whatever, but Chris, it was addressed to _me_!” 

The brunette had put a reassuring arm around her now and Vilde continued talking. It felt good, to finally tell someone how upset she actually was, especially because she worked with four, no, _five_ certified badasses and couldn’t very well confide in them without becoming a laughing stock at the office. 

So, Vilde told Chris how she’d thought the package had been filled with the books Magnus had sent her at first, how she’d seen the newspaper clippings and the blood, and how despite being reassured multiple times that the weird delivery had absolutely nothing to do with her, Vilde still couldn’t shake the feeling that it _did_. Chris hugged her tightly, when she had finished talking. 

“I think you’re absolutely right to be worried,” her friend said slowly after a brief pause. “But think about it, Vilde. Why would anyone send you a threat letter?” 

“Maybe somebody hates me.” 

“Hey, now,” Chris said, patting her friend’s head jokingly. “I’m sure no one’s set up an I-hate-Vilde-Lien-club recently!” 

Vilde snorted, despite herself. Chris was looking at her so earnestly that she almost considered elaborating some more. Telling her friend that the vague threat letter was only a small part of her problems. That her goblet of worries had been filling up lately, and now it had bottled over and thus, this had happened. The stupid mental breakdown or… whatever this was. Worrying over some stupid cardboard box, which was _probably_ nothing. 

“I’m sorry I’ve been so cuckoo lately,” Vilde began. “I think it’s just because Magnus and I…” 

But she didn’t get to finish her sentence because just then her work phone let out a loud beep, the sound reverberating through the room. Vilde dug in her jean’s pocket and glanced at the display. There was a new message from Noora. 

 

 

Today, 17.33 

**Noora:**   Vilde! Hate to bother you on a Saturday but something’s happened. 

 

 

Vilde smiled miserably and shook her head. 

“It's Noora. I need to text her back, work stuff,” she muttered. 

“Hey, of course, no problem.” 

Chris turned her attention back to the TV screen as Vilde started typing a reply, her fingers moving on the display furiously. This was just the worst timing. 

 

 

17.34

**Vilde:**   New developments on the B case? 

 

**Noora:** Not exactly. 

Some dog walker found a body in Frogner this morning. 

We’ve been called in to investigate. 

 

**Vilde:** Shit.

In Frogner? 

It's like the most peaceful neighbourhood ever. 

Why’d you ask me to come tho? 

 

**Noora:** Things are quite hectic here. 

The dog walker’s pretty shaken up. 

Could use some help. 

 

**Vilde:** Okay. Will be  there in half an hour. 

 

 

**Noora:** You’re an angel, Vilde. 

Really didn’t want to mess up your weekend. 

See you soon. 

 

 

Vilde shoved her phone back in her pocket and got up from the couch. She looked at Chris apologetically. 

“I need to dash. Noora says they’ve just discovered a body in Frogner and need my help.” 

She ran to the kitchen, threw her teacup and plate under the sink and began washing them despite the fact that she was in a hurry. 

“Hey, go, I’ll clean up.” 

Chris had made her way to the kitchen and offered Vilde a small smile, although her eyes remained concerned. “We’ll talk later, okay?” 

“Sure,” Vilde yelled, rushing to the hallway and grabbing her pastel coat. The girl had just realised Frogner was on the other side of the city and she’d have to hail a cab. Hastily, Vilde tied a scarf around her neck, squeezed her feet into a number and a half too small white Nike trainers and she was off, forgetting her keys on her bedside table and not bothering to lock the door. 

The blonde was in such a hurry that upon exiting the building, she didn’t notice the three pictures of herself stuck in front of her mailbox down the hall. One of the pictures looked like it had been taken on a street corner yesterday right as she was walking back home from work. It had to be Friday because Vilde was still wearing the same raspberry pink scarf she’d had on  yesterday in the picture. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more happening in the future, I promise!  
> And Iben and Vilde will meet soon as well. I just sort of still needed to set the tone for this fic and since, it is going to be a very long fic, things are not always moving very quickly. 
> 
> Also, please, if you like this story, review it, reviews warm my stone cold heart :) And it's always nice to get feedback!  
> You can message me on Tumblr as well: sheishookedtothesilverscreen.


	4. Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a little over two weeks to update! This is an accomplishment!!! As usual, I will not be using creator's warnings but be kind to yourselves and don't read anything you're not comfortable reading!  
> And please consider, this is a crime mystery and the story's rated explicit.  
> Thank you, and I hope you like the chapter!

Saturday 23.28 

Frogner, Oslo 

 

 

**19 months earlier**

 

 

Vilde ran a sweaty hand through her hair, trying to smooth out her fringe, and fixed her tired gaze on the sad little person before her. 

It was the dog walker. The frail adolescent, barely over eighteen, had been talking to Vilde for what felt like hours and yet, the girl’s hands were still visibly trembling. The medical personnel had insisted that she wasn’t _technically_ in shock and had given the poor thing a security blanket instead. This, plus the Sentrum police station’s reluctance and eventual refusal to let the poor girl calm down before questioning had upset Noora, which in turn led her to call Vilde up on a Saturday afternoon. Noora was the first person to turn up in Frogner and had been in the middle of it all since the early morning hours, so she was quite drained of her usual energy.

Vilde arrived at the scene of the crime at half past six and proceeded to help out in any way she could. At first, the woman had had to call the pathology department and persuade Isak to work on a Sunday. 

It went almost exactly like this. 

“Hey, I was just wondering if you could…” 

“Can’t Elias do it, why do I always end up working on weekends?” the boy groaned while Even’s muffled laughter could be heard in the background. Vilde sighed and hung up the phone. 

Her next call probably should have been to Magnus, but the woman reasoned that there was no need to bother her ex with this, so in the end, she reached out to Sara instead and finally got a positive response. 

Soon after, the forensics took away the body and Vilde was left alone with the girl who had discovered the corpse. They were sitting in the back of Noora’s sleek Chrysler minivan, which, in hindsight, they probably shouldn’t have been in for security reasons. The girl, Bente had kept hugging her small Irish setter and crying. Vilde squeezed her eyes shut every now and then, trying to will out the girl’s speech with her mind. Once upon a time, Vilde would have considered herself a person who possessed an ability to handle even the most nerve-wracking, squeamish situations but right now, listening to the intricate details of how the girl beside her had found a body with _no face_ , was just _too much_. 

“I…I couldn’t see her…her eyes, why couldn’t I see her eyes?” Bente babbled on. Vilde was busy wondering that if this wasn’t technically shocked, then what _was_ , until suddenly, a frantic Noora swung the passenger door open with considerable force. 

“Oh, thank God, you’re here!” she sighed and her lips parted into a barely there smile. “I’ve been looking all over for you! You’re free to go. ” 

“Are you all finished?” Vilde said, adjusting her tired gaze, so she could look Noora in the eye. 

“No, but Jonas forgot to alert me that you were only supposed to be here for like an hour,” Noora replied, frowning. “Again, I’m so sorry for ruining your weekend.” 

_Why did you call me in the first place, it’s not like I really helped_ , Vilde’s insides screamed at her but instead, the woman opted for: 

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just glad this night is over.” 

Vilde stood up, fighting the urge to stretch, and bid good-bye to both Noora and Bente, but the former’s attention was already on the victim. 

As Vilde walked around the crime scene to the nearest place to step over the double yellow line, she suddenly felt someone’s gaze on her. When Vilde turned her head to the left, she could see Sana behind her, looking at the blonde with a creased brow. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

It was freezing outside and hence, Vilde decided to take a cab home instead of  looking for the odd bus stop in the pitch black darkness. The girl shivered as the chilly spring wind blew around her face and it was a huge relief when her cab arrived ten minutes later. Norwegian weather was definitely not a piece of cake, particularly in March. 

The twenty-five minute taxi ride seemed to stretch on for hours. Pictures of the afternoon’s events kept flashing before Vilde’s eyes and the exhausted girl had a horrible feeling like she had missed something. Out of nowhere, she remembered the package that had been sent to the precinct and wondered for the millionth time why her name was on it. 

_Calm down, you’re just over-worked and being stupid_ , Vilde tried to reason with herself as she leaned back against the headrest.

The blonde didn’t get to contemplate her troubles for very long, though as the taxi suddenly pulled into her driveway, its brakes screeching violently and waking the girl from her semi-conscious pondering. Vilde paid for the ride, got out and the cab driver sped off. 

A surge of wind plus the crisp night air managed to clear her mind and upon getting out of the taxi, Vilde yawned away the last traces of sleep. She was rummaging in her bag for keys, senses fully alert, when she had the most peculiar sensation as though someone was watching her. Vilde’s eyes snapped up from her holdall but there was no one near her. Shrugging, the very tired girl dived right back into her bag and dug out her key for the apartment building. The gate of the opposite house creaked and the wind rustled through the bushes nearby. Vilde heard it just as she turned the key in the lock, the faint sound of laughter right behind her. The girl shrieked and wrung the door open, scrambling inside and slamming it shut in a whirlwind. Only then, safe behind the door and in her own corridor, did she dare look back. But as much as Vilde squinted her eyes, she still couldn’t see anything out of ordinary outside. 

_I just hope Chris is on my couch, fast asleep already_ , the blonde thought as she tried to calm down her frenzied heartbeat. As much as Vilde loved Chris, she really couldn’t force herself to talk to anyone right now. Not even Chris. Not when she was probably, slowly but surely, going insane. 

Passing by her mailbox, Vilde still didn’t notice the three pictures of herself hung up against it. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

Sunday 02.11 

Nordstrand, Oslo 

 

Much to Vilde’s surprise, the rest of the weekend passed by and at times, she almost felt…happy. 

In the morning that followed her Saturday night jump scare, Vilde woke up bright and early as usual, way before Chris. She made herself and Chris pancakes with bacon and cheese, drinking some strong coffee inbetween cooking. Then, after preparing herself mentally, she googled “hearing voices after traumatic events”. Vilde discovered that suffering from auditory hallucinations was completely natural, if not expected, after a traumatic experience, and in most cases, it definitely wasn’t a sign of schizophrenia, something that the girl had initially feared. Even though the blonde remained somewhat unconvinced and apprehensive, she forced herself to push all the unpleasant feelings down below and decided not to tell Chris or anyone else what had transpired in the building’s entryway the previous night. The girl didn’t even think to consider that just maybe the voice she’d heard _wasn’t_ a product of her imagination. The idea itself seemed preposterous.

So, when Chris finally ventured into the kitchen two hours later, Vilde greeted her best friend with a wide smile on her face. 

“Hey, amiga, how are you still standing?” Chris greeted her and grinned. She examined the table before popping down on a chair right next to Vilde. “And you made pancakes? Wow!”

“Oh, you know, I had some suitable ingredients lying around and I thought, why not?” Vilde replied, a hesitant smile on her lips. 

“Girl, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you,” Chris beamed at Vilde as the girl offered her a plate. “I really, really don’t.” 

During the day that followed, which was just as unexpectedly sublime as their little breakfast in her small kitchen, Vilde found herself thinking if she had underestimated Chris yet again. Not only did the blonde have a glorious time cooking, watching series and looking up old embarrassing photos of their secondary school classmates with one of her oldest friends, not once did Chris cross-examine her friend about any of the topics they’d talked about the day before. The girl had a small inkling that Chris was doing this on purpose, but, whatever the reason, she was more than glad. 

Vilde hadn’t had such a good time in a long while, so it wasn’t surprising that when Mutta’s car finally pulled up in Vilde’s driveway, way into the night, Vilde found herself not ready to let her friend leave. 

“Chris, I love you, but if you don’t hurry up, we will miss the Season 7 premiere of Game of Thrones and I will not forgive you for that…like…at least in the next 24 hours!” Mutta yelled from the hallway just as Vilde had started telling Chris about yet another story featuring one of Eskild’s recent dramatic moments in the precinct. 

“Hey, chill!” Chris yelled back but got up from the couch, anyway. 

“Sorry, Vilde,” she chuckled, getting her duffel bag from the bathroom in record speed, “Game of Thrones calls!” 

Chris ran to the door and embraced Mutta, while he murmured: 

“So, it’s all about TV, yeah?” in her hair and after quick promises of visiting their friend again soon, they were both out of the door. 

Vilde watched them both from her window as they emerged from the building,  both of their figures illuminated by the street lamps. The two of them were joking and laughing, with Mutta’s arm around Chris’ waist and her head leaned back against his shoulder ever so slightly. She watched Mutta take her friend’s bag and drop it in the back seat after opening the passenger door for Chris and Chris sneaking in a kiss before she got in the car. Only after her two friends had driven away did Vilde realise she was crying. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

Monday 13.26 

Bryn, Oslo 

 

And then it was Monday again. Same futile battles with the copy machine, same rants about bad coffee, it seemed as though nothing ever changed. By eleven, Vilde was so exhausted, she felt she couldn’t even form a coherent sentence anymore and it was only the first day of the week. 

Luckily, her upcoming lecture on Wednesday managed to distract the girl just enough, to keep her mind from venturing back to the harrowing events of the weekend. In fact, she was having a pretty decent morning, (all things considered), hammering out the last details of her presentation, until…

“Vilde, you’re in the papers!” 

Jonas squinted his eyes as he examined the front page of the Aftenposten.  The cover was plastered with photos from the crime scene and a headline in bold, uppercase letters spelt out:  “A GRUESOME MURDER LEAVES FROGNER’S RESIDENTS GRAPPLING WITH FEAR”. Vilde reached for the paper and saw the back of herself in the bottom right corner, greeting the ambulance as she arrived at the crime scene. The blonde sighed and ran her eyes over the page. At least they hadn’t mentioned her by name. 

“Have they found out who the victim is already?” Vilde enquired Eva about the case. The redhead was also reading the paper now and shaking her head. 

“Yes, Sara called me this morning, I think it was Emma Larzen…or Larsson, I’m not sure.”

“Her name was Emma Larzen,” Sana corrected her, raising her eyes up from her computer. “But it isn’t our business anymore, Eskild just alerted me that the matter’s under the Oslo’s police jurisdiction now.” 

Eva’s mouth dropped wide open. 

“So they’re not going to have us investigate a murder case? For real?” 

Sana snorted involuntarily and Vilde tuned out of the conversation as the two of them jokingly bashed the Oslo police execs for letting the Kripos department handle most of their _serious_ cases even though the department’s hands had been full with tracking down the Berber gang leaders for months now. 

“And it’s not like they don’t know that we’re supposed to focus on organised crime and not separate cases!” Eva yelled out at one point.

“So, that’s that,” Jonas concluded when the discussion eventually ceased and dropped to his desk chair next to Vilde’s. “Now we can focus on getting those Berber fuckers behind bars.” 

  Noora regarded him with one of her disapproving glares before grabbing her jacket and disappearing to the laboratory downstairs.  

An hour later, Eva and Sana were packing up their things for their Trondheim trip, now talking about the Sentrum department’s recent fuck-ups, and Vilde was composing an application for the new assistant, when Noora came barging in the precinct again, straight from the main lab on the ground floor. 

“Vilde! I’ve got great news!” she squealed and marched towards her friend’s desk. “I received an official confirmation from the lab that the blood in the box belonged to a rodent, most likely a black rat or a Norwegian brown rat.” 

Everyone’s heads turned in the direction of Vilde’s cubicle, all of them looking faintly amused, relieved or both. Jonas even whistled and Noora couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that. Vilde tried her very best to smile, too, however judging by the worried look on Noora’s face, the other girl thought that Vilde’s expression seemed anything but sincere. 

“Are you okay?”  Noora asked quietly a moment later and Vilde briefly contemplated telling her friend about all the stuff that had happened recently.The topic would have been so easy to bring up at that moment and Noora probably would’ve believed her, maybe she’d even take what Vilde had to say seriously.

_Stop it, she will just think you’re crazy_ , the girl reprimanded herself and shook her head. 

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” she replied and chuckled lightly.  “What we both should be worried about, is finding me a new assistant.” 

 

 

***

 

 

They all assembled to the briefing room shortly after lunch. Vilde didn’t feel like eating anything and just took her coffee with her as they gathered up behind the desk to hear their chief of staff’s speech about the latest plan regarding the Berber operation. Eskild had decided that he had more important business to attend to today, so Linn was in charge. She was clearly struggling with her new role and fighting the urge to yawn as she stood up next to the investigation board and filled the squad in on the plan for the Trondheim stake-out. 

“Okay, if what I see here is accurate,” Linn shuffled through the notes that Eskild had given her before he left, “Eskild thinks there’s no point of you two,” she vaguely pointed at Eva and Sana, “crossquestioning… Dardan… Krasniqi right away.” 

Vilde watched as Jonas’ strange cough merely managed to hide his amusement and Noora glared at him. 

“So, what is it that they _should_ do, Linn?” she enquired. 

“And…it says here that you need to be careful and follow the appropriate protocol when,” Linn droned on, without noticing that Noora had asked her a question, and brought Eskild’s notes closer to her eyes to read his barely eligible handwriting, “…when interrogating him to assure…that the evidence you get from him is…valid.” 

“Linn, we already bugged his minor accomplice’s apartment last week,” Sana interfered, narrowing her eyes. “But I’m pretty sure the man knows we’re on to him,  because we couldn’t wire-tap his phone, so I say we just head out to Trondheim, hot-wire his car, and hope he says or does something that incriminates Krasniqi as well.” 

“And… after that we can interrogate Krasniqi, using that new incriminating evidence, while you guys monitor his accomplice’s movements from here,” Eva added and Sana threw an appreciative glance toward her. 

“Oh, you’re right, it says so on the third page,” Linn sighed as she had only now progressed to that part with her reading. “Good plan.” 

“So,” Eva mused, barely hiding her mischievous smile. “Meeting adjourned?”

Linn nodded and slumped back to her chair.  

Vilde, who hadn’t contributed much to their discussion, got up first, shook her tired shoulders and threw the empty coffee cup in her hand to the nearest trash can. Vilde was so very exhausted that she only vaguely noticed everybody else getting up as well. The girl was almost out of the briefing room when she heard the sound of the door being shoved open on the other side followed by Jonas’ joyful “Hey, bro!” and Sana’s exasperated huff: 

“Mahdi, what are you doing here?” 

Vilde turned around so sharply that she felt blood rushing to her ears, her vision becoming clouded with bright dots at the same time. Vilde wasn’t sure what made her act so abruptly, but when her sight cleared, it wasn’t the familiar face of Mahdi that caught her attention. 

It was Iben, standing there in her gunmetal grey wool coat, all red-lipped bright smiles and confidence, her windswept dark hair cascading down her back. 

“Hey, everyone,” Iben greeted all of them. “Haven’t seen you around in a long time.” 

“It’s so nice to see you!” Eva exclaimed, moving in to embrace her. 

Vilde stared at the two of them hugging. Of course, she knew Iben. Had seen her around the precinct many times, in fact, although maybe not so much recently. But she didn’t remember being this dumbstruck by her, ever. _Well, this was odd._ Vilde frowned and turned her attention elsewhere. 

She could see that Sana was still glaring at Mahdi. 

“Explain,” the woman was saying, her arms folded across her chest. 

“Uhm,” Mahdi scratched the back of his neck, all the while beaming at Sana. “Didn’t Eskild tell you?” 

“Eskild isn’t in,” Noora groaned as Iben chortled, letting go of Eva. Slowly but surely, her gaze slid up to meet Vilde’s. 

“Hi, Vilde,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “That locket really suits you.” 

Vilde only managed a small smile and a nod before she absent-mindedly started to fidget with the golden chain of her necklace lying on her pale pink cashmere sweater. Iben had already turned around and resumed talking to Eva. Vilde ran a hand through her hair. 

In the background, a drowsy Linn had discovered something new in Eskild’s notes. 

“Of course!” she mumbled to herself before standing up and drawing the squad’s attention. 

“Hey, I remember now,” Linn called out and a sleepy grin ghosted over her features. “You two are here because you were supposed to instruct Sana and Eva on the appropriate protocol of interrogation which we… talked about earlier.” She suppressed a triumphant yawn with her hand.

“Yes, but we can’t stay long, unfortunately” Mahdi told Sana and Eva, getting out his briefcase. “Sonja ordered us to be back at four.” 

“Oh, I don’t know, Mahdi, I’m sure she’ll live if we’re ten minutes late,” Iben smirked, sitting down besides Eva. 

“So, tell me, what you’ve been up to, long-lost friend?” she smirked, knocking  her hand against the redhead’s elbow by accident. Eva chuckled and began to tell the other girl about her life. 

Around them, the precinct was in complete and utter disarray. Linn was praying for Eskild to come back as soon as possible while Jonas and Mahdi were reminiscing about the last party they had went to with the boys. Noora and Sana had occupied the forgotten investigation board, shouting out new ideas and crossing out stuff they didn’t think were relevant. Only Vilde was quiet. The girl was mesmerised, staring at Eva and Iben from the corner of her eye, completely in her own little world, when the buzzing sound of her phone, brought the blonde back to reality for a fleeting moment. 

Vilde looked at her display. She had a new text from Chris. 

 

 

Today, 16.32 

**Chris:**   Hey, girl! Just wanted to let you know that you and Sana are officially invited to stay over with us next weekend. Love you. 

PS: Holy shit, you need to catch up on GoT, I can’t even! 

 

 

Vilde glanced up from her phone and looked at Iben who was currently engaged in an elevated discussion with Eva, her teeth flashing and eyes squeezed shut from laughter. Vilde gazed at her, and without taking notice of it herself, the corners of her mouth slid upwards. Maybe it was true what everyone said. Maybe, just maybe, there was no need to worry. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Iben and Vilde have finally met! Or plot twist, they actually already knew each other!  
> I feel like this chapter was kind of a mess (I wrote it all in a row in 9 hours on the 30th) but I hope you still liked it!  
> And as always, reviews warm my stone cold heart so if you liked the story, please comment! 
> 
> You can also chat with me on Tumblr. My username is: sheishookedtothesilversceen. 
> 
> All the best and I hope to have the new chapter out soon but who knows!


	5. I See a Bad Moon Rising

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm finally here with a new chapter! I hope you like it :)  
> As always, comments and kudos warm my stone cold heart. 
> 
> And just a gentle reminder that I don't use creator warnings so please be kind to yourselves :)

Thursday 10.59 

Bryn, Oslo 

 

 

Vilde was busy on the first three days of the week, so she didn’t really have time to worry about anything.

After Iben and Mahdi had left on Monday, Vilde dedicated the remaining working hours to preparing her upcoming speech down to the last detail and finishing all the last week’s paperwork. She spent her day in the immigration office on Tuesday presenting her lecture about the new security measures to a mostly empty auditorium. Then Vilde went back to the office where she busied herself with interviewing the new candidates for her assistant job. The woman found no one suitable and after a frantic search for the right candidate on her computer, which went on for hours, Vilde left the office at 10 pm and was forced to conclude that she probably wouldn’t find anyone for the vacancy, at least not in this week. 

The woman felt so drained upon reaching home that she still didn’t bother to check her mailbox. There were two more photos of Vilde hung up against it now, the left one was taken when she was sitting in a tram this morning and the other one was a close-up of Vilde speaking in front of the immigration office workers. 

The next day, Vilde went down to the justice department to help them with the Wasilewski case as promised. 

She spent nearly an hour in front of a mirror on that morning, a good 15 minutes of it just because she was trying to draw a flawless line on her left eyelid. Vilde put on her best flower-print Ted Baker dress, the one she’d purchased on a sale at Brown Thomas whilst on a holiday in Dublin with Magnus a year ago, and arrived at the justice department 20 minutes earlier than necessary. The woman didn’t acknoweldge the cause of her particularly fastidious attidude on that specific day, at least not consciously. 

Despite all her perhaps-not-so-oblivious efforts to see Iben again, though, the desk clerk in the lobby called Vilde forward almost right away, and she was forced to make her way to the fourth floor where she had a meeting set up with the prosecutor assigned to the Wasilewski case.

“It’s your lucky day,” the administrator had said. “William always arrives at work at least half an hour early as well.” 

Vilde took a lift to the sixth floor and spent her morning arguing with William Magnusson over the details of the Wasilewski case. It was difficult to make her concerns heard because Magnusson was dead set on having things his way, no surprise there. Vilde’s hands started to tremble under the table in quiet frustration. Luckily, Sonja showed up at William’s office after twenty minutes or so of agony, and it was much easier to for Vilde to get her point across with one of the top attorneys in the country by her side. Vilde’s spirits increased a tiny bit and when lunchtime rolled around, the blonde was half hoping to get a glimpse of Iben before they went back to the office. She didn’t and wanted to shake herself for the flickers of disappointment churning at her insides. 

_What was wrong with her? Why was she fixating on Iben all of a sudden?_  

When Vilde arrived at home late in the evening, she still didn’t check her mailbox. No new photos had appeared on it overnight but Vilde wouldn’t have known that as she didn’t even look that way when passing through the corridor. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

“We should go out tomorrow and celebrate!” Eva exclaimed, dropping her hold-all to Vilde’s desk.

Vilde had been typing out a memo for her next week’s meeting when Eva and Sana barged in the precinct in the early afternoon, all smiles, yawns and in Eva’s case: complete untidiness. The Berber case had been a hit and although, both of the girls  must’ve been exhausted, they were also in a bizarrely elevated mood. Vilde stared at Eva and wondered how the other girl could still look so good with her messy bun and creased shirt. 

“Eskild!” Eva yelled. “How do you feel about going out tomorrow night and getting shitfaced?” 

“ _Don’t i_ nvite him with us,” Noora groaned but Eskild had already flung open his office door and was leaning against it now, regarding both Eva and Sana with a wide grin. 

“Ooh, so where are we going?” 

“Somewhere where there’s good music,” Sana interjected, glaring at Eva and Eskild. “ _Please_.” 

Eva chuckled. 

“You bet! We have to go to Nox & Sollihagen to celebrate our successful case!” 

“Bless this idea, babes,” Eskild said and shut the door again. 

Jonas raised his head up from the computer at the sound. 

“Do you mind if I invite Mahdi and Magnus and the whole gang?” 

Noora frowned at the same time as Vilde winced. 

“I thought this get-together was supposed to be colleagues only,” she said, scowling at Jonas again. 

“What, who said that?” 

“Don’t you think that it’s a bit… insensitive of you to invite Magnus when Vilde and him just broke up?” 

“Noora!” Vilde shrieked before Jonas had time to reply. She regarded her friend in disbelief. 

“What’s wrong?” the other girl looked up at Vilde, her eyes full of concern. “I thought…” 

“Noora,” Sana interrupted firmly before the blonde could finish her train of thought. “Maybe we should let Vilde handle this one herself.” 

Vilde felt her cheeks heat up a little as they all stared at her and she had a sudden feeling like she’d been put to the spot. The woman knew that both Noora and Sana meant well, in very different ways, but it was just all too much…and _why_ did she have to answer these questions about Magnus time and time again? 

Vilde sighed and looked up at her co-workers. 

“It’s okay if you invite him, Jonas,” she said and hated herself for the fact that her voice still sounded so quiet and weak. “We’re bound to talk, anyway.” 

Jonas smiled at her apologetically. 

“I mean, I don’t have to…” 

“It’s okay.” Vilde forced her lips into a smile although she felt like someone was tearing at her insides. “I mean, it wasn’t that bad of a break-up, per se, and I mean, you guys are all friends, you all hang out together like…all the time, why would I get in the way of that, I…I…” 

Vilde shook her head, willing herself to stay calm. 

“I wouldn’t do that.” 

She meant to say “I’m completely over him, let’s not talk about it anymore” but that would’ve been more difficult to explain to all of them. 

The squad regarded her with mixed expressions. Jonas and Sana were looking at her weirdly which meant that she had probably blabbered too much again. _Fuck_. Noora’s and Eva’s faces just showed worry and disquietude. 

“I’m alright,” Vilde said, when they still wouldn’t stop looking at her. “I’m completely fine.” 

“Okay.” Eva gave Vilde a hesitant smile and went to her desk. The others turned away as well as Jonas chuckled: 

“So… I’ll invite Magnus then.” 

“Jonas!” Noora snapped.

Jonas raised his hands up in defeat, unable to keep the smile from his face. 

“Okay, _okay_ , I won’t talk about it anymore.” He paused and turned his eyes to Vilde. “Sorry.” 

Vilde didn’t even notice. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

_Iben Sandberg has sent you a friend request._

Vilde was having lunch by her desk when her phone beeped. The woman put down her box of curry and looked down at her phone in astonishment. What? She knew that the two of them weren’t friends on Facebook (had checked after Iben left the precinct on Monday) but why would Iben send her a friend request now? 

The blonde squinted her eyes a little bit and brought the phone closer to her face. There it was, black and white on the screen, a new friend request. She looked around the precinct and opened up Facebook, ignoring the fact that her heart was hammering against her ribs. 

She hit accept and proceeded to scroll through Iben’s photos. There were a lot of photos of Iben at parties, in skintight metallic dresses, wild unruly hair cascading down her back, often with a drink in hand. Vilde felt her skin starting to tingle and shook her head. 

_What was she doing exactly?_

She was about to put her phone away but her thumb had already swiped across the next picture. Vilde let out a little gasp. 

Because the picture was of Iben kissing another pretty brunette at a party.

“Hey, guys,” Eva’s voice echoed over the room. “I was thinking…should I invite Iben to our get-together tomorrow?” 

Vilde’s eyes snapped up from her phone. What was this, had someone seen her looking at Iben’s photos? The blonde twisted her head left and right frantically until she realised that no one was looking at her. 

It was just a coincidence, a divine intervention, _something_. 

Still…

“No!” Vilde blurted out and it came out angrier than she’d wanted to. 

Eva’s eyebrows flew up. 

“No? Why not?” 

“Because…” Vilde averted her gaze, scrambling in her brain for some plausible reason. “Because… we barely know her. And we’re supposed to invite people that we do now. Besides…isn’t she… a lesbian?” 

Four narrowed gazes snapped up to her. Vilde felt her face heating up and her hands began to tremble. Damn it. She probably should’ve stopped after her second sentence. _Probably._

“Vilde,” Eva said after a beat, her facial expression a mixture between genuine incredulity and thinly veiled horror. “Noora and I are both _bisexual_ , our boss is _gay_ , what do you mean by _“isn’t she a lesbian?_ ”” 

Vilde swallowed back a lump in her throat. She had to think, quickly. 

“Umm…noo,” she began, her hands still trembling. “I…I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“Then what did your homophobic comment mean?” Sana retorted. 

“No, I’m just,” Vilde’s voice was shaking. “I just thought that…you know how Eva always makes out with a lot of girls at parties. I mean, we don’t need a pretty girl like Iben there to distract her…right? ” 

Sana’s eyes narrowed. 

“Honestly!” Vilde yelped. “I just want this to be a friendly get-together, where everyone is just chilling together and having fun, we’ve had so much stress lately, I…I didn’t mean anything offensive by it, I swear.”

Sana’s face still seemed a bit hostile but everyone else had calmed down considerably. 

“No, I get it, Vilde,” Eva finally said. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I was quite shocked by your comment for a moment there… but you’re right about one thing. I should hook up less. I won’t invite her.” Eva gave Vilde a half-smile. “But Iben isn’t gay.”  

“She isn’t?” Vilde almost gasped but managed to control the tone of her voice at the last minute. Sana’s brow was definitely furrowed now. 

“Nah, she’s bi like me,” Eva replied, shaking her head. “Or I don’t know…she just…” 

“I think she used to date some guy from my old secondary school?” Noora interrupted the redhead before she could finish her sentence. 

Eva’s face brightened up at the memory. 

“Oh yeah, she did. I never once saw him, y’know? But I know it was a mess. He was a fucking asshole.” She chuckled. “According to Iben, at least.” 

“I don’t remember his name, either,” Noora said after a moment.

Vilde’s eyes widened. 

“How do you know so much about Iben?” she asked. 

“We were close in secondary school,” Eva explained. “And I met Noora thanks to her.” 

“Oh.” 

Vilde’s brain was swirling with all kinds of questions. She opened her mouth to enquire more about Iben but thought it best to keep quiet then. Vilde was aware that Sana was already staring at her rather oddly and the blonde twitched in her seat. She didn’t want to add fuel to the fire. Vilde scooted her chair closer to her desk and concentrated on her work again. 

 

 

*** 

 

 

At precisely 2 am, the elevator doors chimed open again. 

There was a collective gasp in the office as Lea Valtersen made her way to her old Kripos desk. Her nose and cheeks were quite sunburnt but judging by the bright smile on her face, she was feeling perfectly fine and content. 

“The Maldives were so great!” Lea let out a happy sigh as she fell onto her chair. “Me and Alexander had such a great time, you guys should also try to get out of the office sometimes…oh… hi, Vilde!”

Vilde had noticed Lea right away and got up from her desk right away, all the while muttering under her breath. 

“Hi, Lea!” she greeted her assistant now, her voice painfully cheerful. “Uhm…what are you doing here?” 

“What do you mean, I’m back at work, of course!” Lea raised a quizzical brow. “What’s wrong?” 

“Uhm, I don’t know how to tell you this but…” Vilde began, squaring her shoulders. She could totally do this, absolutely. Firing someone couldn’t be that hard. “You know, you didn’t notify anyone about your holiday and…I’m sort of…” 

“You’re firing me?” Lea’s upper lip had begun to tremble. “Oh, please don’t, not without…a…a notice.” 

Vilde’s helpless gaze darted towards her co-workers, praying for somebody to interfere. It was really ironic that at that exact moment, _all of them_ appeared to be focusing on their work for once. 

“Well, you see,” Vilde declared, gathering up her courage. “Rules are rules. You don’t show up at work on time, you get fired. I don’t make the rules but…I’m afraid I am looking for a new assistant.” 

From the corner of her eye, Vilde could see Sana giving her an appreciative little look. 

“But…Vilde!” Lea’s face bore a horrified expression. “You…you’re friends with Isak! I won’t hear the end of this!” 

“What’s going on here, lads?” Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, Eskild had marched out of his office and was looking at both Vilde and Lea now, something like a smile on his face. “Hey, Lea!”

The younger girl gave him a high-five. Vilde huffed. 

“What’s wrong, Vilde?” Eskild asked, cheerful. 

“Lea’s back and I… we have to let her go.” 

“Now, Vilde, why would you do that? Lea’s cool!” 

“ _Eskild_ ,” Noora’s voice chimed in and she stomped over in her Doc Martens despite Jonas’ not so quiet efforts to keep her from interfering. “Lea just missed _a week_ of work without notifying her superiors of her absence.”  The blonde lifted up an exasperated hand. “What is Vilde supposed to do, give her a promotion?”

“What a great idea!” Eskild started clapping his hands but seeing Noora’s glare, he stopped.  The man sighed. 

“Okay, Lea won’t stay on,” he announced and then turned to Vilde in a flash. “But…have you found a new assistant yet?” 

Vilde resisted the urge to rub her aching temple and shook her head. 

“So, Lea will stay on.” Noora’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Until Vilde has found a new assistant. Ta-da!” Eskild concluded and started walking back to his office. He turned around on the spot when he was about half-way to his door as though remembering something. 

“And you, young lady,” he bellowed, pointing a half-accusatory finger in Noora’s direction and grinning. “Don’t talk back to authority!” 

“Okay, Eskild!” Noora yelled back, she couldn’t help but smile a little. 

Meanwhile, Vilde had sunk back to her desk and was massaging her temple. She felt awful. The last thing Vilde needed right now, was the overwhelming presence of Lea. _This just means more work for me in the end_ , Vilde thought and began to type at her computer. 

Lea interrupted her after a minute or so. 

“Hey, mind if I check today’s post? I could be of use!” 

“Go ahead,” Vilde mumbled without looking at her. 

Lea went to get the post and not a moment later, there was a loud screech down the hall. Vilde bit back a frightened yelp just as Sana jumped up from her desk. Jonas followed her. 

“D-you, do you think there is another one?” Vilde whispered and both Noora and Eva were by her side in seconds. Vilde buried her face in Eva’s shoulder, not understanding what she was so shaken up about when…they didn’t even know if…

That’s when Sana and Jonas came back in the room, Lea in tow, carrying another cardboard box. Sana’s lips were pressed together in a hard line and her eyes were throwing daggers. Jonas, in comparison, still appeared to be quite laid back. 

“Well,” Sana cleared her throat. “It’s definitely worse.” 

Vilde buried her face in her hands. 

“Really, that’s what you’re going with? It’s worse?” Jonas asked incredulously and looked at Vilde but met Noora’s biting glare instead. 

“How bad is it?” Vilde managed to choke out and oh god, she was _not_ going to cry, not in front of everyone. 

“It’s not addressed to you,” Jonas simply said and Vilde’s mind seemed to clear a bit. 

“It’s not?” the woman asked, feeling a bit dumb-founded. 

“No,” Sana replied, her eyes still dark. “But there is a dead rat in that box along with another dead rat that looks like it’s been run through a meat grinder. And the same letter as last time.” 

Sana pulled out another “WE’RE WATCHING” announcement from the box, the paper was slightly bloodied, and Vilde felt the bile rise up in her throat. She noted Eva’s tightening grip around her and the other girl’s fingers, which were digging into her shoulder a little. 

“Yes, and I saw all of it,” Lea yelped, and Vilde’s gaze landed on the young girl. She did look a little pale on closer inspection. 

“The box was open and I…” Lea continued. “I don’t know if I can work here like this.” She was shivering and dug her hands in her jean pockets. 

“Still think we have nothing to investigate here?” Noora rounded on Jonas, getting up from beside Vilde and stepping closer to him. 

Jonas ran a hand over his face. 

“Noora,” he said, his voice quiet. “It’s just some lunatic fucking with us, that’s all.” The guy turned to Sana for support but the woman was deep in thought and didn’t even look at either of them. 

Eva was still holding Vilde tightly and the blonde felt as if she would never get another word across her lips. Eventually, Eskild and Linn showed up and Sana narrated the whole cardboard box mess for them. The both of them thought it best not to jump to conclusions right away and Linn made Vilde strong coffee, sitting down next to her and Eva. 

“I can change shifts with you if you want,” she began quietly. “I…do you want to go home now?” 

Vilde shook her head, determined to remain (at least somewhat) clear-headed. 

“I’m fine. It’s just…” she managed to get out. “A lot has been happening lately.” 

 

 

*** 

 

They left it at that. As Eskild had put it, even though the box was rather gruesome, “we have nothing to go by right now”. The captain had also reminded them that the dead rats weren’t addressed to Vilde this time, so there was no apparent reason to classify the bizarre box as a personal attack against one of their own.

“We can’t panic when it’s our job to solve cases much worse than this every other day,” Eskild had declared and for once, he had sounded completely serious. 

Vilde was starting to calm down a little, too. There were a million thoughts racing in her head, prickling against her skull but she knew she had to keep the hysteria at bay. 

A bit later, the woman thought about the voice she’d heard when standing in front of her own front door last weekend. Vilde opened her mouth to tell the squad about it but they’d all just started up work again and besides, Eskild had said that this disgusting delivery probably had nothing to do with her. Vilde wriggled herself free from Noora’s embrace and went to sit at her own cubicle. She would think about all of it later…at home. 

 

 

***

 

Vilde did excuse herself and went home at half past five that day after all, when it was still light out. She had just got on her home tram and leant her cheek against the cold window when her phone buzzed, then buzzed again. 

Vilde’s mouth stretched into a grin and she grabbed her phone from her coat pocket. But it was only the precinct group chat. 

 

Today, 17.48 

**Jonas:**      Is the party still on? 

 

**Eva:**        Yea 

 

**Sana:**     Yes? 

 

**Noora:**    No! 

 

**Jonas:**      So…it is but Noora isn’t coming? 

 

**Noora:**   Haha. 

              Should we really go out and party while some lunatic keeps sending us threat letters? 

 

**Sana:**     Even if we don’t, they’re not going to stop because of that 

 

**Eva:**       I agree. Might as well. 

 

**Noora:**     But what about Vilde? 

 

Vilde huffed and began typing another reply. She should’ve known Noora would bring that up again. 

 

17.55

**Vilde:**   I am fine. I think we should party. 

We all deserve a drink 

 

**Eva:**        Or a hundred 

 

**Sana:**      You promised not to drink anything before summer vacay, Eva

 

**Eva:**       Ehhh…. 

 

**Noora:**    I’m still not sure 

 

**Jonas:**     Listen. We’ll just

              Party our asses off tomorrow 

              Forget this ever happened

              And that psycho will forget us 

 

**Sana:**     Seconded

 

Vilde read the rest of the texts and turned the conversation on mute then. Her head was still pounding and her stomach felt heavy but she was glad the party was happening. _Maybe I should even invite the girls to my place so we could go to Sollihagen together_ , she thought. 

The woman was pondering on sending an invite to their Olafiaklinikken group chat but somehow, ended up on Iben’s Instagram page instead. 

Vilde stared at the photos until she had to get off the tram. There were no pictures of that same brunette on Iben’s feed and for some reason, the notion brought a smile to the blonde’s face. Vilde was looking at a photo of Iben and her friends in the Norwegian fjords when she opened the front door of the house. The woman walked right past her mailbox where two new photos greeted her among all the old snapshots of Vilde. Vilde still didn’t notice anything odd, she was too busy looking at  a selfie of Iben smiling at a Jack Russell puppy. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter!  
> The squads unite in the next chapter, yay! And also, a lot of other stuff might happen but my mouth is zipped. If you liked this chapter then please leave kudos or review, thank you very much!  
> And sorry for not updating in almost a month, I'll try to do better!
> 
> THIS WORK IS ABANDONED FOR THE MOMENT! I MIGHT COME BACK TO IT ONE DAY BUT THIS IS HOW IT IS! I AM SO SORRY!


End file.
